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By Adam Forrest The Sufra food bank, run from a small community centre on a north-west London housing estate, is in high demand. The Muslim charity’s Wednesday afternoon session sees a constant stream of people coming to claim food packages: young couples, men on their own and mothers trying to keep toddlers quiet. Ali Jawad,

By Peter Walker and Susan Schulman It was quite a challenge, even for the crack team of theatrical experts summoned from around the world: less than six months to produce a hi-tech musical extravaganza about one of the most renowned figures in human history. Oh yes, and the title character can’t appear on stage. But

By Yasmine Hafiz From the outside, the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz, Iran, seems like a fairly traditional house of worship — but it’s hiding a gorgeously colorful secret. The multitude of stained glass windows turn the inside of the mosque into a riotous wonderland of color that is absolutely breathtaking. Japanese photographer Koach was

By Judith H. Dobrzynski SABIHA AL KHEMIR was visiting a solar energy plant in Spain about four years ago when inspiration struck. Her host, the foundation of a Spanish company with interests in alternative energy, wanted her to conceive an Islamic art exhibition for Seville to recognize Spain’s 800-year history under Moorish rule and ideally

By Isma’il Kushkush SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates — WHEN Leila Aboulela arrived at the international book fair here recently, the conference room was packed to capacity with dozens of eager listeners. After she finished reading a passage from her award-winning novel, “Lyrics Alley,” the torrent of questions — some in English, others in Arabic —

By James Estrin Samer Mohdad was a 10-year-old boy living in the mountain village of his Druse ancestors when Lebanon’s civil war broke out in 1975. His life changed overnight: His childhood playmates were now his sworn enemies. The traumatic experience of the war, which lasted until 1990, stayed with him and, Mr. Mohdad believes, eventually

By Michele Moses Though Will Caldwell was born, raised and college educated in Georgia, he is uncomfortable praying there. He has felt that way since a clear summer evening in 2007 at a nondescript gas station off a nondescript interstate somewhere between Savannah and Macon. He was on his way home to Saint Simons Island

By NPR Staff Representative Keith Ellison became the first Muslim to be elected to Congress in 2006, and the first person of color elected to represent Minnesota in the national legislature. Along the way he’s confronted questions about his faith, patriotism, and even some unpaid parking tickets that nearly derailed his first campaign. He talks

By Alexandra Hartmann The minaret of the Jara Mosque in Gabes towers over its surroundings. Formed of golden brick, it jolts up from the flat, sand-colored cityscape around it, all the better to broadcast the call to prayer across the coastal city. But what’s most noticeable about the minaret is not its height or architecture,

By NPR Staff Toga parties and keg stands have become stereotypes of college fraternities. But Ali Mahmoud had something else in mind when he founded Alpha Lambda Mu, the first social Muslim fraternity in the country. “I realized that there was this void for Muslims on campus,” says Mahmoud, a junior at the University of